Adverse reaction to asacol

[donna martinez]

Had a quick question. just wondering if anyone might know if you have an adverse reaction to asacol, does that mean that you cannot use any medications in that category or just the asacol. I know there is a similar medication called pentasa. Asacol caused my liver to inflame, would pentasa do the same?

 

[Crohn's 35]

Hey Donna there is also Salofalk too , same type of drug. I just find all these drugs are for milder cases. Pentasa may do the same thing, it means Pent (5) ASA ...Asacol, just the same amount so maybe you are going to react to all or just Asacol. Are you on any other drug? Do you drink alcohol? If no to both it must be the ASA. Hard on the gut for some too. You may want to talk to your gi about another type of mild drug for you to be on. Just a thought.

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

Asacol and Pentasa are essentially the same drug. The difference is in the formulations used in their coatings.

I found Asacol made me a bit dizzy in the initial stages of treatment, although the side effect eventually wore off.

 

[EthanPSU]

Im lucky asacol doesnt have any side-effects for me, Im taking 12 a day

 

[Samantha]

I'm really confused, I had another colonoscopy last Tuesday and apparently the left side of my colon is horrible. I was taking Asacol and the doc has just changed me to Pentasa, if they are essentially the same thing, what is he doing? I didn't have a bad reaction to the Asacol, why not just up the dosage?
I see him in 2 weeks and will ask!

 

[Rebecca85]

Donna- I would guess you can't have any mesalamine drugs at all but you may be able to tolerate other similar medicines like sulfalazine.

Samantha- pentasa breaks down differently to asacol. It is unaffected by transit time (i.e. It still works even if you have the runs). Maybe the doc is concerned that the asacol either isn't breaking down soon enough or is being flushed out by the runs. By the way, 500mg twice a day? That seems like a very low dose. I started on 2x 500mg 3 times a day (total of 3000mg).

 

[acg101]

@ Donna - Asacol and Pentasa are essentially the same med. The difference is in the way they are being absobed in the body.


I had a reaction to both after they upped my dosage to a point my body rejected it and I got hives and severe dizzyness.

 

[Regular Joe]

Hi Donna,

I can speak to this, to a degree, because of my experience with my girlfriend who had a adverse reaction from Asacol. Her reaction got progressively worse over a period of about 6 months. Her reaction was that the asacol had the opposite effect and made her D worse, with progressively worsening blood incidents, and eventually it started shutting down her kidneys. This was scary when that started happening.

I was upset with her GI because he increased her dose so high. But when she phoned him, and he listened to her symptoms, he told her to stop altogether for 3 days to see if the symptoms improve. Which they did imptove. He then discontinued the asacol, and he also assumed she would have the same reaction to all 5-ASA compunds. The research, however, indicates that other forms might not cause adverse reactions, whereas Asacol might have.

There are several formulations of 5-ASA which is (in laymens terms) is a form of analgesic to reduce inflammation similar in effect to asprin. If you can't tolerate asprin, you probably won't be able to tolerate any of the 5-ASA drugs. As folks have mentioned, the primary differences in the 5-ASA categories are the method the active drug is delivered and/or the location of where the active drug is released in the digestive tract. The different formulations of 5-ASA can be effective for one person and another person might have an adverse reaction.

Asacol and Pentasa are the same formulation of 5-ASA. However their release is substantially different. Asacol is released based on pH (acid) levels in the gut and Pentasa is released based on time-release. Research indicates that there is a slightly higher level of adverse renal (kidney) insufficiency with Asacol and Pentasa compared to the other variations of 5-ASA.

The 5-ASA compound with the highest level of intolerance is Sulfasalazine because it uses a sulfa agent to deliver the 5-ASA, and the reaction is mostly against the sulfa agent rather than the 5-ASA.

Back to my girlfreind's reaction, it seemed the biggest problem with 5-ASA (Asacol in her case) is you have to take such a large dosage many times a day. The drug also has some harsh side-effects. Also, it seems with the dosage so high over time, we're almost destined to develop an adverse reaction even if it didn't happen at first.

 

[Lee]

I just started taking Asacol (12 a day) too and I'm doing okay so far.

 

[hainman]

hi guys,ive been on asacol for about 3years now and have had no problems at all with it,i thought the asacol was an anti-imflamatory to stop the spasms and imflamation,ive now been put onasacol enema's too at the advice of the specialist,surgeon and the stoma nurse,its a pain in the ass having to do this everynight before bed but hopefully it will cut down the imflamation in my lower area,think its the rectum and lower area of bowel.im also on humira injection once a week so fingers crossed.anyone else on the enemas??

 

[Lee]

When I said that I had only taken it for a couple of days--I began to feel light headed (loopy) so instead of taking four 400 mg 3x's per day (Asacol NE) I've lowered my dose to two 400 mg 3x's a day--I feel much better. My doctor initially gave me a script for Asacol extra strength---800 mg 3x's per day but my insurance wouldn't pay for it. I'm experiencing constipation & pain in my small intestine when I am able to expel a small amount of stool. I've tried benefiber--that isn't working. I go to my GI Friday so hopefully he'll have a solution for me.

 

[acg101]

Lee - I hope you feel better soon. It may take a while for your system to get used to the meds. Please Be aware of any reaction to the meds.

 

[Lee]

Thank you Dan.

I am afraid of side effects. I'm not comfortable taking another drug to mask a side effect (unless I have no other choice). When I was taking the dose prescribed not only did I feel loopy I also became very clumsy (dropping things, etc). When I saw my GI on Friday I told him I cut the dose in half and that I feel great now. He kindly asked me to add one more pill 3x's a day. I told him I would and I will, but I'm going to add each pill over a week & a half period. I completely understand his concern because he wants my colon and small intestine to heal as soon as possible, but WE ALL have lives, obligations and we need to be able to function properly. I don't go back to the GI until June for another colonoscopy--I believe and hope things will look much better than they did last time.

 

[Tina_86]

Hi all

I am on mezevant which as far as I no is the same as asacol? I am on 1200mg X4 a day after reading this post I now feel this is a very high dosage..... any ideas?? I have suffered diarrohea constantly since Aug and I am also thinkin the med could be contributing to this as well as the chrons?

 

[Lee]

Hi all

I am on mezevant which as far as I no is the same as asacol? I am on 1200mg X4 a day after reading this post I now feel this is a very high dosage..... any ideas?? I have suffered diarrohea constantly since Aug and I am also thinkin the med could be contributing to this as well as the chrons?

Yes, I did lower my dose of asacol without telling my doctor and I still haven't raised it (even though I told my GI I would). My diarrhea has completely stopped unless I eat something that pisses my stomach off (for example yesterday I ate artificial crab meat salad--fake crab meat, mayonnaise & cabbage cut into thin slices--I know it was the cabbage that did it). Ten minutes after my first three bites I was on the pot..lol Sorry for the graphic detail

Asacol is supposed to stop inflammation (which when stopped--you should have normal stool) and I'm pretty sure it said on the handout the pharmacist gave me that--if you have diarrhea from it--you should contact your doctor.